. The sea fairies . in the sea, you re the queerest! Mer-maids, eh? Dont bunch us that way! protested Capn Bill. You are quite wrong, said Trot; I m a—a girl. With a fishs tail? he asked, laughing at her. Thats only just for a while, she said; while I m in thewater, you know. When I m at home on the land I walk justas you do—an so does Capn Bill. But we have nt any gills, remarked the Capn, lookingclosely at the little mans throat; so I take it we re not asfishy as some others. If you mean me, I must admit you are right, said thelittle man, twisting his mustaches. I m as near a fish as aman ca
. The sea fairies . in the sea, you re the queerest! Mer-maids, eh? Dont bunch us that way! protested Capn Bill. You are quite wrong, said Trot; I m a—a girl. With a fishs tail? he asked, laughing at her. Thats only just for a while, she said; while I m in thewater, you know. When I m at home on the land I walk justas you do—an so does Capn Bill. But we have nt any gills, remarked the Capn, lookingclosely at the little mans throat; so I take it we re not asfishy as some others. If you mean me, I must admit you are right, said thelittle man, twisting his mustaches. I m as near a fish as aman can be. But you see, Capn, without the gills that makeme a fish I could not live under water. When it comes to that, you Jve no business to live underwater, asserted the sailor. But I spose you re a slave andcant help it. I m chief cook for that old horror, Zog. And that re-minds me, good mermaids—or good people, or good girls andsailors, or whatever you are—that I m sent here to ask whatyou d like to eat. 164. The Sea Fairies Glad to see you, sir, said Capn Bill. I m nearlystarved, myself. I had it in mind, said the little man, to prepare a regu-lar mermaid dinner; but since you re not mermaids— Oh, two of us are, said the Queen, smiling. I, my goodcook, am Aquareine, the ruler of the mermaids, and this is thePrincess Clia. I ve often heard of you, your Majesty, returned thechief cook, bowing respectfully, and I must say I ve heardonly good of you. Now that you have unfortunately becomemy masters prisoners it will give me pleasure to serve you aswell as I am able. We thank you, good sir, said Aquareine. What have you got to eat? inquired Trot. Seems tome I m hollow way down to my toes—my tail, I mean—andit 11 take a lot to fill me up. We have nt eaten a morsel sincebreakfast, you know. I think I shall be able to give you almost anything youwould like, said the cook. Zog is a wonderful magician,and can procure anything that exists with no more effort thana wiggle of
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